Catasauqua Girls Take 2a Title Paukovitz Scores 29 To Lead Rough Riders To 58-42 Victory

March 26, 1988|by RICKI STEIN, The Morning Call

From their tiny home court at Lincoln Middle School gym (and all the other small Colonial League courts) to cavernous Hersheypark Arena, the Catasauqua girls adjusted with aplomb.

They captured the PIAA State 2A Championship yesterday in convincing fashion, soundly beating Bishop McCort 58-42. No other Colonial League team has ever gotten to the state final.

In addition to the starters and two usual substitutes, the bench (called upon when Catasauqua suffered major foul trouble in the third quarter) performed like seasoned actresses before an opening night Broadway crowd. The crowd, in fact, was the biggest the Catasauqua girls had ever seen. About 1,000 of the 3,000 in the stands came from Catasauqua. Despite 3,000 empty seats, the cheering resounded through the arena.

The Rough Riders (28-2) overcame Tuesday's poor, but winning performance in the Eastern Region final by hitting 20-of-48 field goal attempts and leading from start to finish.

"This is the state final. We had to get our act together and redeem ourselves," said senior Stacey Paukovitz, who scored 29 points, hauled down seven rebounds, blocked two shots and had three steals. "We wanted to bring the gold back to Catty."

Senior point guard Janice Cesanek (four points, 10 rebounds) credited the team's following to boosting its quality of play. "We had everyone behind us. That really helped. We knew the arena was going to be big. It helped us to play in Stabler Arena."

The Roughies won their first District 11 title at Stabler after losing the Colonial League crown in a playoff for the second straight year.

"That Colonial League loss was definitely a blessing in disguise," said sixth-year coach Patti Heffner, who won her 100th career game along with the state title. "From that point on it was like the girls were on a mission. It wasn't going to be enough for them unless they won today."

The girls didn't want to have to guess about the victory late in the game. So they started out by hitting 5-of-7 field goals for a 10-4 lead. Sophomore Jenny Greiner, the only underclassman on the court in the first five minutes of the game, snared four rebounds and put two of them up for layups. She finished the 14-6 first quarter with six points while Paukovitz had eight. Greiner finished the game with eight points and six rebounds before fouling out with 4:17 left.

"Jenny had some awesome moves in the first quarter," Paukovitz said. "We told her, 'You're not a sophomore on the court. You're part of the team. You'll do it."'

Greiner began starting late in the season after junior Heidi Fehnel came down with mononucleosis. Fehnel still has the illness, but wanted to be part of the action and got on the court for the first time in over a month. She got in the game in the second quarter to help give the starters a breather.

"Greiner has a lot of good moves," said Heffner. "She's gaining confidence. That's evident in the way she's playing. She was spectacular in the beginning and that helped take the pressure off Stacey."

Playing in its third state final in four years, Bishop McCort (20-12) hit but 3-of-16 attempts in the first quarter before challenging in the second. Dawn Figura hit three straight 18-footers and nine of her team-high 14 points in the frame. Noel Chiodo showed her quickness on defense and by halftime, the Lady Crushers trailed by only three 24-21. The Roughies also helped let them back in with three timely turnovers, misses on coast-to-coast layups and fouls.

Paukovitz scored five straight points (including a three-point play) to open the lead to 29-23 at 5:47 of the third quarter. But by then, Cesanek had collected her third foul, Greiner was about to collect her third and by the 3:14 mark, Jamie Scheetz had her third.

With 2:55 left, Paukovitz seemed to score a key layup after rescuing the ball out of a mess under the defensive board. But the four-point margin, 33-29, didn't take Catasauqua out of trouble. By the end of the third frame, Greiner and Cesanek had four fouls each and Paukovitz, Chris Snyder and Scheetz (nine points, seven rebounds) each had three.

"We're notorious for fouls," Paukovitz said. "We have to rely on our subs. Jen Green and the other subs pulled it out. I never lost confidence because for this game, everyone was so immensely into it. They were all playing their best."

Sixth-player Stephanie Sheckler, a 5-10 sophomore, first got in the game in the second quarter and wound up with six rebounds and two points on a jumper. Sheckler saw action in the Roughies' district and previous interdistrict matchups, but no other subs got into tournament games.

"I didn't plan to substitute early, but in the back of my mind I knew we might need them," Heffner said. "Maybe I was a little more cautious today than in past games. I knew the adrenaline was going to hurt us defensively."